Deepening Awareness in PracticeRethinking "Corrections"

This week’s editorial grew out of a conversation with students around “corrections” in class ~ what they are, why they’re offered, and how we each discover alignment in our own bodies. It opened the door to a deeper reflection on how we learn, how we release old patterns, and how we trust the wisdom of the flow.

I’ve never been a follow-the-leader kind of teacher. Not that there’s anything wrong with that ~ it's simply never been where my interest lives, because yoga is not something we imitate. It is a study ~ a living inquiry ~ where the real learning arises from what you feel, sense, and understand within.

In the beginning ~ and truly throughout our whole practice ~ we each arrive with different reasons for stepping onto the mat. Yet beneath all of these reasons lives a shared inquiry:

How do I ease the tension in my body?
How do I quiet the stress-patterns of my mind?
How do I feel more at home in myself?

These questions guide the practice just as much as the movements or the breath. They remind us that yoga is not only about what we do ~ it is about how we soften, listen, and reconnect to the steadiness already within.

One of the foundational sutras of yoga, Yogaḥ citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ (Yoga Sutra 1.2), tells us: Yoga is the calming of the fluctuations of the mind.
What keeps those thought waves from becoming calm?
Often it is the tensions held in the body, the unresolved patterns of the mind, the habits we automatically repeat. Through practice, we learn to study these patterns—not to judge them, but to understand them. And in that understanding we gain access to the great reservoir of energy, clarity, and peace that yoga says is already within us.

Rethinking “Corrections”
Traditionally in movement training—dance, yoga, athletics—the word correction is used to adjust a posture or movement. Yet this word has never felt quite right to me.
If there is a “correct” way, then by implication there must be an “incorrect” way. And for many students, that translates to I’m doing it wrong.
I hear this often:
“I know I’m not doing it right.”
“I can’t do it “correctly” because of this or that limitation.”

Over the years, I’ve also noticed something subtle. Even when I offer guidance gently and with trauma-sensitive awareness, I sometimes see a student’s body tense or hear them quietly say, “I’m sorry,” or see them snap quickly into the shape they think I want.

This is not the inner atmosphere I want to cultivate.

So I’ve been shifting my language ~ toward alignment, guidance, assistance, instruction, or simply natural alignment.

Because the purpose of alignment support is never to “fix” you.
It is to help you: to stay safe, to understand how your body moves from one place to the next, and to find efficiency, ease, and clarity within your own unique range of motion. It always includes your limitations, your challenges, your recoveries, and your lived experience.

And while I can offer guidance and my “expertise,” the real wisdom arises when you explore the new information in your own body. Alignment is something we discover together ~ you receiving the cue, feeling it, trying it on, and noticing what awakens. This shared responsibility is what makes the practice truly your own.

As my teacher Kaliji has said: we simply move in the direction of the posture, and the energy begins to support us.
There is the physical effort of aligning the body, yes ~ but there is also prana, the subtle life-force that flows through us. When we move with breath, awareness, and ease, prana increases. It helps to free what feels tight, to steady what feels wavering, and guide us toward the posture without strain or force.

This is the moment when practice shifts from doing to being moved ~ supported by prana, the intelligent current that carries the TriYoga Flow.

Why I Sometimes Give Less Feedback Now
Some Basics students recently asked why I wasn’t giving as much feedback as before. Their words were, “Why aren’t you coming over and telling us how to do it?”

A few reasons:

• Because you are doing your practice. Your years of practice are living in your body.
  And you can rest assured: as long as I can see you, if something is unsafe for your body, I will let you know. Your own body will also guide you—through sensation, breath, and awareness.
• Because part of yoga is learning to feel alignment from within.
  Over time, you begin to recognize your own patterns and apply what you’ve learned in a way that makes sense for your body.
• Because questions are a powerful doorway.
  If you’re unsure, ask ~ and I’m right there.
• Because the flow itself is wise.
  In TriYoga, the Kriyas channeled through Kaliji are arranged with extraordinary intelligence. Each posture prepares the next; each movement opens what is needed for what comes after. When we follow the sequence as it is taught ~ like adding ingredients in the right order of a recipe ~ the practice unfolds safely, efficiently, and beautifully.

How Alignment Instruction Happens in Class
Alignment can be offered in several ways:

1. Verbal Cues
Listening and applying the guidance in your own timing and range.

2. Demonstration / Mirroring
Watching the teacher, then feeling it in your own body.

3. Hands-On Assistance
I now use this sparingly and selectively. There are reasons for this, which I can share another time ~ it’s thoughtful and intentional.
In group classes, instruction often comes briefly as I move through the room, balancing the pace and safety of the whole group. When there is something essential for everyone, we pause and explore it together.
In private or semi-private sessions, there is much more time for deeper inquiry, specific questions, and individualized exploration.

How to Receive and Explore Alignment Instruction
Here are some simple, powerful ways to work with guidance in class.

• Listen to the verbal cue.
• Watch—open your eyes and receive through the visual sense.
• Ask clarifying questions when needed (with awareness that group time is limited).
• Try the new alignment in your body.
• Return to your original way.
• Feel the difference. What changed? What didn’t? What became clearer?

Sometimes the new alignment feels awkward, off-center, or strange. Sometimes it feels immediately comforting or relieving.
I’ve heard students say:

• “Really? That’s aligned? I feel crooked!”
• “Oh wow—that feels so much better.”

Both are beautiful discoveries.

For Deeper Exploration ~ If you’re craving more personal guidance, clarity, or  specific instruction, consider scheduling a private session. These sessions allow us to slow down, break things apart, and explore at a depth that isn’t possible in a group setting.